


I Dreamed Reality

by Innocentfighter



Series: Zolu Week 2k15 [5]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dreams, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-27
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-04-11 15:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4440737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Innocentfighter/pseuds/Innocentfighter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luffy had often dreamed about what Raftel would look like. When he was younger and heard the tale for the first time (from Shanks naturally) he had thought it would be the quaint place, a field of grasses with a pedestal and on top would be the one piece. As he grew older Raftel became more menacing, an island in fog with rock spikes and spires reaching into the sky and the very center would be a chest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Dreamed Reality

**Author's Note:**

> Day 6: Dreams/Nightmares
> 
> This was my favorite piece hands down. I loved writing it!
> 
> DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN ONE PIECE
> 
> See you at the bottom!

They were nearly at Raftel when the Marines showed up. The fight was legendary, a tale that was sure to be passed down by both sides. In the end the Straw Hat Pirates proceed with their plan, regardless of Marine interference. Of course, there was no force on earth that could stop them now that they were this close.

In the skirmish Zoro had met up with Mihawk, and that battle in itself was an epic. The man left Zoro scared once more, cutting him along his chest opposite of the other scar forming an X. But the former greatest fell, and Zoro had no time to celebrate, they were still in the midst of a battle. When they reached the shores that's when he celebrated.

Raftel was a place of dreams, nothing like the waters in front. Nami had one hell of a time getting them through that. The island so many people dreamed about reaching was real.

It's shores were the whitest sand he'd ever seen and the shallows were so clear you could see straight to the bottom, right to the drop off. The fish were from all over, every sea and even then some.

Sanji was ecstatic and Zoro who was in a good mood didn't have it in him to make a remark.

The others naturally were in high spirits. Nami was planning to map the entire place once she was sure that there were no threats. Usopp was spinning a tale from his head, but there was nothing fake about this one, Chopper was preparing his herb gathering gear. Franky and Brook were both wailing about the success. Robin was staring at everything like it was new, and had her journal clasped in her hands. And Luffy... Luffy was looking at them with such fondness.

The last part of the Grand Line had been rough and long, and they'd gained more allies and lost allies and even now those allies were attempting to hold off Blackbeard and the Marines so that they could find the treasure.

Luffy turned his gaze to the unexplored island. The fauna was some of the biggest he'd seen, though the Green Bit and The Little Garden still won in terms of size. He could feel the aura of the place, it was powerful and mysterious, but there was another feeling to it. It was freedom. Once he found the One Piece he'd be the freest person on the sea.

His dream would come true right along with his crew's and he couldn't be happier.

"Oi, Luffy, let's start looking for this thing. We need to go help the others out." Zoro grinned.

Luffy couldn't help but to grin back, Zoro was being deliberate in using his name. "Sure thing, World's Greatest Swordsman."

Zoro laughed. "Yeah, I am."

He really couldn't get tired of hearing his first mate laugh, it'd become more frequent as their journey continued. But Luffy prided himself on being the one that could make Zoro laugh the easiest and most frequent.

"Alright! Guys! We're gonna find the One Piece!" Luffy had jumped onto Sunny's figure head.

"Yeah!" His crew echoed back.

"We'll split into teams."

"Anyone want to stay with the ship?" Nami asked.

The answer was obvious, this was too exciting and the entirety of the Straw Hat crew wanted to help see their captain's goal through as he had seen their own completed.

Luffy cleared his throat. "I'm with Zoro. Nami is with Chopper and Robin, Sanji and Usopp, Franky and Brook!"

Once the teams were sorted they made sure the the Sunny was anchored and mostly hidden away from any ships that broke away from the fight.

By the time that was done Luffy was nearly trembling with excitement. Zoro had trouble keeping up with him, his captain may be 25 now, but he still had the energy he had as a wide eyed 17 year old.

"C'mon Zoro! You're so slow!" Luffy turned around still grinning.

Quickly he jogged to catch up. "Sorry, sorry."

Luffy looked thoughtful for a second. "Hold my hand."

Zoro arched a brow but complied, it was something they had done a thousand times before, and hopefully a thousand times more. He was worried about what would happen after this, when all their dreams are done and completed. Everyone else was talking about it too. They had no where else to go, the Sunny was their home. It wouldn't happen for awhile they had to sail Brook to Laboon, but that shouldn't take more than a few months.

A sharp tug on his arm told him Luffy was tired of waiting on him, and he fixed that by picking up his pace.

"Hey, Luffy?" Now the question was in his head.

His captain hummed.

"What do we do after this and Laboon?"

Luffy turned to him, frowning for a second but the grin was back just as fast. "We do what we want. The Pirate King and crew are the freest on the ocean. There will be a lot more adventures too!"

Zoro couldn't help the smile off his face. So there was no reason to worry about them splitting up, not for awhile. Not that he would've left his captain's side for anything, he was too in love with the other to even think about being anywhere else.

Luffy started walking, tugging on Zoro, and if the swordsman hadn't had any experince the rubber man he would've stumbled.

"Lead the way."

They found a winding trail, and with a shrug to each other they started to walk it.

Luffy had often dreamed about what Raftel would look like. When he was younger and heard the tale for the first time (from Shanks naturally) he had thought it would be the quaint place, a field of grasses with a pedestal and on top would be the one piece. As he grew older Raftel became more menacing, an island in fog with rock spikes and spires reaching into the sky and the very center would be a chest; the catch was, however, that you needed to navigate the overgrown sharp plants. Then when he started his journey the two merged together, forming an eerily beautiful island. What he got wasn't at all like those.

The shore's of Raftel were almost like a tropic paradise, but the rest of it was a heavy, old forest. The trees were tall and the further you went in the darker it got. The flora were varying shades of natural and unnatural color.

He liked it, and understood why the former Pirate King had hidden his treasure on this island.

The trail wound and weaved through the forest and Luffy was sure that if they didn't have it they would get lost. Well Zoro would get lost regardless and he wasn't that good with directions.

Just as the swordsman was about to suggest a lunch break, a cave came into view. It seemed to lift out of the ground and was very similar to a mouth, and Zoro couldn't make out anything past the entrance.

Luffy's hand tightened around his.

"Wanna take a look?" Zoro asked.

"Yeah."

The conversation was only to break the air of apprehension. Something about that cave was unsettling, to Zoro at least. But Luffy seemed excited about it, and the swordsman wasn't one to question his captain's gut instincts.

Surprisingly the cave was actually light when the pair entered it. Luminous moss lit the cave enough that everything was covered in a dark green glow.

"Wow." Luffy breathed.

Zoro was inclined to agree with him, though his hand was ready to unsheathe one of his swords at a moment's notice. The cave they entered turned out to be a cave system, so they had to resort to marking where they had been so they could get back.

The check in time had surely passed by now, but they were too far into the cave for the Den Den to get a signal.

Suddenly the tunnel widened into a cavern, they had been worried about how small the tunnel was getting, but what they found was amazing.

Luffy was actually speechless for once. The cavern was massive, easily big enough to fit four giants comfortably and standing. There was a single path, leading to a small island in the middle of the cavern, off in the distance a waterfall could be heard and it was an underground lake. Leading up to the island, there were natural colums almost spaced and paired perfectly, and the walkway itself was paved in the moss that grew brighter. Directly above the island there was a circular hole that allowed sunlight, which was now a dim orange glow (they had been in the tunnels longer than they thought.)

But perhaps the most stunning thing was the non descript chest on a raised platform in the middle of the island.

"Is that?" Zoro asked.

"It has to be."

Zoro risked looking over at his captain, and was left breathless. Luffy's eyes glinted with excitement and his mouth was settled into a small smile. The younger male turned to him, and his smile widened so much that he had to close his eyes and there was a small gathering of tears in the corner.

"This is it!"

Then Luffy shot off to the chest, Zoro following behind him. His heart was thumping in his chest, almost as much as it was when Mihawk had fallen to him. Speaking of, his wound had started leaking from the exertion, Chopper was going to scold him for messing up his stitches. In the face of what was happening, the swordsman really didn't care.

Luffy had already opened the chest, and examined the treasure that lay inside. Before Zoro had time to ask what exactly the One Piece was Luffy launched himself at the other, holding something tightly in his hand.

Easily the first mate caught his captain and spun around to help with keeping them on their feet. Luffy was laughing or crying, it was hard to tell but he was smiling that same smile that had won Zoro over all those years ago.

"We did it!" Luffy cheered, his voice echoing in the cavern."I'm the Pirate King!"

The swordsman spun them around once more before settling Luffy in a more comfortable position to hold him. He rubbed his nose against Luffy's, and had the gesture returned.

"Congratulations!" He laughed.

Luffy laughed along with him, and they were just both overjoyed that they had accomplished their goals, all on the same day.

"Shall we go tell the others Pirate King?"

"Shishishi, yeah!"

Somehow Zoro had managed to navigate them to the mouth of the cave without getting too misdirected. As expected the moment they reached the opening the Den Den started ringing.

Luffy pulled it from Zoro's pocket and answered it, sharing one more excited grin with his first mate.

"Pirate King speaking!"

There was silence, and then Nami's voice sounded from the snail.

"You found it?"

"Yep!"

The Den Den freaked out as there was a sudden group cheer, and the sudden rush of congratulations and other celebratory words.

"How are our allies?" Luffy asked, turning somber.

"They won, the Marines have ceased fighting. They aren't gone, though. We think they're waiting to see the result." Robin answered.

"Okay." Luffy answered. "We'll be back shortly, then we can tell everyone and party!"

The now Pirate King hung up the Den Den and shared one more look and smile.

"Let's head back. Can't keep your crew waiting, Pirate King."

Luffy tried to put on a serious face and nod but he broke out into a smile again. "Let's go, World's Greatest Swordsman!"

Zoro's smile widened at the words. The walk back was filled with them playfully rubbing each other's noses and calling each other by their new title.

"I think the Pirate King should be seen walking to his ship on his own two feet."

Luffy easily leapt down, and extended his hand once more. All Zoro could see was a seventeen year old boy cheerfully announcing his name and dream.

Often the swordsman had dreamed of becoming the best and what it'd be like to have Luffy accomplish his goal, and everytime he was disheartened to know that he woke up.

This time he knew that when he woke up, he would still be Zoro the World's Greatest Swordsman and First Mate to the Pirate King.

Luffy too had dreamed of finding the treasure, surrounded by his friends and family. They'd been happy dreams, the types that stuck with you throughout the day and improved your mood. He never minded dreaming about it, but now he was going to live it. He was Straw Hat Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and Pirate King.

Above them the stars twinkled as if they were laughing with the celebrating pirates.

**Author's Note:**

> We're at the bottom! Thank you for reading! Leave your thoughts below! Later!~IF


End file.
